>> have i to go through the rockefeller studio to get to work. >> have i to go. >> bye, andy, bye, jill, bill. bye. it's tea time for republicans as candidates backed by grassroot activists win big primary races. we look at two people responsible for checking up the g.o.p. status quo. the man from buffalo who wants to shake up new york state politics. live from the studio in washington, this is "special report." good evening, i'm chris wallace in for bret baier. it's not champagne, but tea that has the beverage of choice for many republicans today. grassroots organization under the tea party umbrella flexed their newfound political muscle again in tuesday's primaries. chief political correspondent carl cameron reports from delaware, scene of the biggest upset of the night.

>> the people of delaware have spoken. [ applause ] >> reporter: tea party conservative christine o'donnell shocked republican mike castle and his establishment supporters for the delaware g.o.p. senate confirmation last night. this morning, senate republican officials who had the sister candidacy reversed course and pledged money for the general election fight. g.o.p. senate leader mcconnel gave her a curt and skeptical nod. >> i'll support the winner. >> we'll look at where we think the best opportunities for pick-ups are and that's where we'll spend the money. >> reporter: party bosses have no plan for the big-money outlet for o'donnell than other tea party candidates have started to receive. the polls suggest that o'donnell trails continues. she is trying to unite the g.o.p. >> i'm very convinced that we can win. before the republican cannibalism i was ahead in the polls. and, you know, if we can put

this behind us and do some damage repair and, you know, then we can turn the two-point lead to a 10-point lead. >> some republicans fear o'donnell will cost them the chance to win the seat joe biden held for 0 years as well -- 30 years as well as deny them a critical seat needed to win in the majority. >> it's clear that the tea party movement has the upper hand in the republican primary electorate. that is not the general election. >> meanwhile, in new jersey, establishment favorite won the g.o.p. nomination to face democratic congressman paul hodes in november. the win was so close against conservative glamante, it was not decided until this afternoon. >> despite all the tension between tea party conservatives and establishment republicans and whether it's a good thing or bad thing that tea party candidates keep winning there are two things that are benchmarks undeniable. since the primaries began more than 4 million republican ballots have been cast over democrats.

and in delaware, where christine o'donnell was supposed to be so terrible and the turn-out was supposed to be 25,000 to 30,000 it was almost double. chris? >> chris: carl cameron reporting from delaware. thank you for that. two people who played big roles in tuesday's tea party upset are emerging as rival king makers. one drops money bombs on preferred candidates, the other focuses on boosting women in politics. correspondent james rosen profiles the unorthodox figures who stand both inside and outside the g.o.p. >> not going to beat them up or anything, right? >> no wonder jim demint half expected a sock in the face from colleague john cornyn share of the campaign committee with the tea party ties and conservative fund, demint has become a potent counterweight to the own party leaders in the choosing of winning and losing candidates. >> i hope i am a threat to the so-called establishment

here in washington. i see press reports of anonymous staff members, cowards, saying things they won't say to me. but actually, a lot of republicans here will whisper to me that keep up the fight. >> demint in this cycle has thrown his weight behind 12 g.o.p. candidates, nine of them winners. most audacious was the early backing of senate nominee rubio at a time when rubio, the races's front runner was the underdog. now the south carolinaen is vowing to raise by next week $174,000 for delaware christine o'donnell. part of the demint pack $4 million in receipt and expenditure for the cycle. >> people can come to conservative -- senate conservative.com and give directly to candidates. we will hopefully hit $5 million before november 2. >> only sarah palin who boasts no beltway title rivals demint as the unofficial g.o.p. king maker

this year. she has endorsed 43 candidates and racked up an impressive 25-11 record. like demint, palin rejects the king-maker title and denies seeking the role. >> i am not in this for any kind of personal gain or power grab at all. i don't even know how to play those type of games and i don't have the people, the machine, the whatever it takes to be in a position like that. i am thankful that jim demint is so bold and courageous that he is getting out there and making these endorsemen endorsements, too. no competition there at all. >> senator cornyn for his part told fox news he enjoys common cause with governor palin and senator minute minute especially now that the election season is upon us. cornyn made rye reference to the senate as institution with 100 large egos and 200 sharp elbows. >> chris: it could be a very interesting republican senate caw next year, couldn't it? >> we'll be watching. >> chris: thank you, james. even as most of the country is focussed on this year's

match-ups, some can't help but look ahead to 2012. "special report" anchor bret baier is on the road tonight in the hoosier state. >> hi, chris. i'm in indianapolis, indiana, today to interview governor mitch dams. as you know, a successful and popular governor with approval ratings in the mid-60s, even in these tough economic times. a string of balanced budgets behind him and a budget surplus in a state that really was in financial straits before he took office in 2005. now he has not ruled out a possible run in 2012 for president. his name continually pops up. in fact, today's "indianapolis star," the front page says this. is daniel setting the table for '12? dinner with republican heavy-hitters suggest interest in running for president. his name continually pops up. as a possible candidate. perhaps the unobama, his supporters say. here is what he said about the prospects today. >> people have said keep an

open mind or reopen your mind to this. i said all right. nothing changed in my outlook at this stage. look, like millions of people, i'm really concerned about the country. >> this is part of a series of interviews we're doing with possible 2012 republican candidates. it will start running the week after the mid-term elections and will run every night leaving up to an hour special, in-depth look at the possible 2012 republican contenders. in the meantime, of course, all the focus is on the 2010 mid-term elections. now just seven weeks away. here in indiana, there are big races. the big senate race pits republican dan coats against democrat brad elsworth. coats has a big lead in recent polls. he is seen as the favorite here. there are also some tough races, house races. especially for democrats. democrats hold seats in five of indiana's non-congressional districts. they're playing defense in three of them so far. republicans really do see the

hoosier state as fertile ground for possible pick-ups in congress. we'll be following all of this and talking to folks about all of the races here today, as well as talking to the governor. i'll be back in washington tomorrow. chris, have a good show. >> chris: the nation's capitol will have a new mayor next year. d.c. council chairman vincent gray defeated incumbent fetty 54-45% in tuesday's democratic primary. he faces no republican opponent in november. that brings us to our featured text to vote poll. here is the question -- which tea party backed u.s. senate candidate has the best chance to win in november? you can text your answer to 36288. type sr1 for nevada's sharron angle. sr2 for ken buck of colorado. sr3 for delaware's christine o'donnell. or sr4 for kentucky's rand paul. we will bring you the results at the end of the program.

still ahead, stacking the audience for the president's next town hall.

>> chris: senate majority leader harry reid says he will tack amnesty amendment to so-called policy bill. the "dream act" will be for those who meet certain requirements to become legal residents. immigration reform push this close to mid-terms is a political move. calculations about the mid-term elections definitely are playing in the current debate over whether to extend the bush tax cuts. as correspondent molly henneberg shows us in politics timing is everything. >> president obama speaking in the rose garden today

called on congress to get going and extend the bush tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 a year. >> doesn't it make sense for to us move forward with the tax cuts that we all agree on? >> reporter: however, senate democrats led by majority leader harry reid have not introduced a bill to do so. and republicans argue in the tough economic times, everyone should keep that tax break set to expire at the end of the year, including those families or small business owners who earn over $250,000. >> republicans are united. no tax increases on nobody. now that may be poor grammar, but it's sound economics. >> republicans contend tax breaks for wealthy americans will not stimulate the economy and will put the government in debt. >> the extension of the tax cut for our wealthiest, for our millionaires will add $700 billion to the national

deficit. $700 billion. we can't afford to do that. >> more back and forth between the white house and the white house minority leader john boehner. over an answer boehner gave when asked if he would support a bill extending the tax breaks only for those who make under $250,000. >> the only option i have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, i'll vote for them. but i have been making the point that we need to extent all the current rates for all americans. if we want to get our economy going again. >> reporter: the white house says that showed at least initially an opportunity to get the president's push for some tax cuts passed. >> if you listen to part of what congressman boehner said over the weekend there appeared to be earlier in the week to be a willingness to go along with that. >> i said sunday about five times that i want to extend all of the current tax rates. that is what the american people want. >> but with many embattled

members of congress wanting to get home to campaign, it's possible, and today the white house acknowledged as much it may be pushed back to lame duck section of congress after the mid-term election. chris? >> chris: molly henneberg reporting from capitol hill. thank you for that. industrial production rose slightly in august as the manufacturering sector grew for the 12th time in 14 months. stocks reacted well. dow was up 46. the s&p 500 gained almost 4. the nasdaq finished ahead 11-1/2. government regulator has told lawmakers the nation's largest banks have a legal obligation to buy back $11 billion in bad loans they sold to fannie and freddie. the refusal to accept some of the cost of the bail-out is a significant concern. five months after the initial exexplosion, government officials say the golf of mexico oil spill well should be permanently sealed by sunday.

meanwhile, interior secretary ken salazar announced a new requirement that all abandoned wells in the gulf must be plugged. there are a number of vacancies for federal judgeships that also need some plugging. despite a meeting to discuss pending nominations. correspondent shannon bream reports the roster won't be filled anytime soon. >> reporter: the senate judiciary committee took up another batch of president obama federal court nominees. but even if all six are ultimately approved by the senate, the confirmations will do it will to chip away at the growing list of vacancies on the bench. according to the latest figures from the administrative office of the u.s. courts, there are currently 103 federal court vacancies. and just 41 nominees pending. 38 of the openings are now classified as judicial emergencies. >> justice isn't being done. that's what the problem is. it's that americans are

waiting too long for justice and for court hearings in this country. >> even supreme court justice anthony kennedy weighed in saying, "the excellence of the federal judiciary is at risk." so who is to blame for the backlog? some point to the white house where the president is running well behind the pace of former president bush and clinton. >> he has a great team that should identify qualified candidates but it's simply not his priority. strange for someone who is constitutional scholar, but he has legislative priorities instead. >> congratulations! >> reporter: mr. obama supporters say he carefully deliberates over each and every pick. trying to find highly qualified candidates with bipartisan backingp and accuse republican senators primarily minority leader mitch mcconnell of using secret holds and other delay tactics. >> in some cases he demanded hours on nominees that are voted on 99-nothing on the senate floor, where the senate floor debate time is useded to debate other issues

where the nominee generally, genuinely isn't controversial. >> reporter: as for nominees who generated controversy, the president is doubling down on berkeley law professor goodwin liu. he raised conservative zaire because of application of the constitution text must be "open to adaptation and change." he was nominated to the ninth circuit because bounced back to white house without a senate vote. on monday, the president renated him, likely setting up another contentious showdown. in washington, shannon bream, fox news. >> chris: the imam at the center of the debate over whether to build a mosque near ground zero is fighting another battle in new jersey. a judge has ordered feisal abdul rauf to produce documents proving he is making repairs to two apartment buildings he owns in union city. tuesday that city's mayor called rauf a slumlord. at least three more people have been buried in the wrong graves at arlington national cemetery. the army says the officials open burial sites last month

and found those remains had been interred in mismarked graves. today the remains of the slain marine were exhumed at the request of his father but it turned out the young man was buried in the appropriate place. we'll meet the candidate who is promising to bring a baseball bat to the state legislature in new york. and president obama is scheduled to take questions on middle class issues from ivy league elites.

>> in international news, u.s. is accusing iran of intimidating united nations inspectors investigating the country's nuclear program in an effort to influence their findings. also today, freed american hiker sarah shourd was reunited with her mother, but

said her struggle is not over. >> today is a work that my day begins and all of my efforts starting today are going to go in to helping procure the same freedom for my fiance shane bauer and for my friend josh fattal, because i can't enjoy my freedom without them. >> chris: despite the official end of combat operations in that country, u.s. and iraqi forces launched a raid on the former insurgent stronghold of fallujah today killing at least six. it was the second time this week american troops were involve involved in fighting. gaza militants launched shells to israel and israeli warplanes responded bombing a tunnel used for smugglealing. all this happened as israeli and palestinian leaders held peace talks in jerusalem along with secretary of state hillary clintong hillary clinton. there is a town hall next

week but the guest list isn't what you expect. white house correspondent mike emanuel tells us who got an invitation and why it's causing a stir. >> in the past month, president obama has been holding events like this one in columbus, ohio, in small venue speaking to typical americans and listening to their thoughts about the economy. monday, obama traveled to fairfax, virginia, backyard where people expressed concerns about jobs and other economic issues. composed of friendly audiences the events represented middle class so-called real people. >> you're in a bubble. when you are president. and sometimes you just don't have the opportunity to have the kind of interactions that i used to have even when i was a senator. and so, these kind of formats are terrific for me. >> but next monday mr. obama is scheduled to be in a town hall made for tv event at museum in washington and cnbc will televise it and they encourage the alumni club of washington, d.c. to invite

members to attend. well-known princeton graduates in washington are first lady michelle obama and supreme court justice sonia sotomayor and elena kagan. alumni alert says, "we are looking to capture the sentiment of the nation ahead of the mid-term elections." at the end the invitation says, "please write a question you would like to ask or have answered by the president." >> was the white house aware they were being invited to attend the event and their questions were prescreened? >> i honestly mike don't know the answer to any of that but i can have someone check in on that. >> in response to defrom fox, brian seals, president of public relations says we're reaching out to diverse group of americans who are interested in the economy. critics say mr. obama is not well served holding event with washington elite, though the president believes he reaches out to wide range of people across the socioeconomic spectrum. >> this president has good ratings for what the "new

york times" columnist david brooks calls the "educated class." the president's problem is to get beyond princeton graduates and other ivy league graduates to the larger body of voters where he is not faring as well lately. >> democratic strategists say it will be a test drive for arguments the president will make between now and election day. >> mike emanuel reporting from the white house. mike, thanks for that. don't forget about the text to vote poll. here is the question: which tea party backed u.s. senate candidate has the best chance to win in november? text your answer to 36288. type sr1 for sharron angle. sr2 for ken buck. sr3 for christine o'donnell. or sr4 for rand paul. we'll have results later. grapevine is next. ñ÷

now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. president obama approval rating may be slipping at home but he is holding steady in europe. survey by transatlantic trend show in the european union, 8% approve of mr. obama's -- 78% approve of president obama foreign policy. that's a drop from last year when he had 83% approval

rating in the e.u. the number of europeans who disapprove of the president handling of international policies doubled to 16%. in 2008, then president george w. bush disapproval rating in europe was 75%. in those countries. if you are wondering why the economic recovery is lagging, we may have another answer for you. the national institute of health put stimulus to work in africa. they spent recovery funds on a study to teach african men how to watch themselves after sex. but they're not sure if the washing regimen works in preventing men from contracting hiv. they hope to do another study about that later on. no word if they'll use more stimulus money for that. finally, anyone who wants to smoke in new york city may just have to stay home.

city officials with support from mayor michael bloomberg announced new legislation to ban smoking in public places such as park, beaches, marina, boardwalk and pedestrian plazas. that means no lighting up on a stroll through central park where while taking in the sites in times square. if the ban is passed, violators could be slapped with a $50 ticket. >> chris: top story at the bottom of the hour, tea party backed candidate christine o'donnell is getting national attention after her upset victory in last night's delaware republican senate primary. the tea party also made waves in new york where real estate developer from buffalo beat a long-time republican politician. senior correspondent eric shawn has his story. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: he won with the blunt no-nonsense stuff

demeanor. carl paladino stunned the new york republican establishment crushing former congressman rick lazio by 24 points. 62 to 38%. tea party favorite, paladino promises to change the empire state's politics. >> there is no such thing as democrats versus republicans anymore. it's a ruling class of people versus the people. that's it. we have seen the party label it. we see them everywhere. the ruling class has many of the republican regulars as it does the democratic regulars. they're all feeding at the public trough. >> reporter: new york state republican chairman ed cox who backed lazio now says paladino is a winner. >> in the victory speech last night, a classy speech, he showed he is ready for prime time. a great candidate. >> does he split the party? >> no. the party is getting behind him. >> reporter: paladino mostly spent his own money and calls for cutting taxes by 10%. government spending by 20%. he sparked controversy by saying some prisons could be transformed to dormitories

for welfare recipients to get job training and learn personal hygiene. came under fire for once forwarding racist and porn graphic e-mails which he -- pornographic e-mails he later said he didn't look at or condone. the populist message resonated with many, especially tea party followers. >> i don't look at myself as leader of the tea party movements and the 9.12s and the patriots. i'm a member. that's it. >> he now faces democratic attorney general andrew cuomo, son of former governor mario cuomo who has been leading paladino in the polls by as much as 30 points. >> an draw cuomo is a clear favorite. no doubt about that. that being said in a year when people are angry with the democrats, angry with what is going on in albany, anything could happen. >> reporter: lazio will still be on the ballot in november as the conservative party candidate. while paladino remains far behind cuomo in the polls few gave him much chance to defeat lazio either.

in new york, i'm eric shawn. >> chris: political spending record broken in the california governor race. republican meg whitman surpassed new york mayor michael bloomberg for the highest personal contribution in american campaign history, investing $119 million of her own fortune in her bid against democrat jerry brown. remember, it's only september. we'll talk about tuesday's primary results and how the tea party is shaking up the g.o.p.

think it means the political process belongs in the hands of the people. and they want it back. >> chris: christine o'donnell explaining her victory in the primary in delaware. our panel, fred barnes of

"weekly standard." erin billings from "roll a" and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. the conventional wisdom is o'donnell can't win in delaware and they can't win the senate. are we writing off o'donnell and the grassroots movement that gave her a victory too quickly? >> yeah. she can win. it's not impossible. it's harder than if castle won in the primary. like tea party like alaska and utah, the states are conservative states so you nominate a tea party candidate who is conservative and is going to win easily in those states. delaware is different. it's leaning democratic. not a conservative state. it will be tough for her, but it could be a we have an election where the republicans win in unusual places. we'll see republicans win a lot of seats, many of them

they have had before in new england and new york and pennsylvania this year. delaware, i wouldn't rule out the fact her prospects for winning harder but not impossible by a long shot. >> chris: erin, we talked earlier that james rosen had a piece about king makers. sarah palin and we'll talk about her, one of them is jim demint bucking the national establishment, supporting a number of insurgent republican candidates like christine o'donnell. he said he would rather have a minority that believes in something than majority that believes in nothing. listen to senator demint. >> i don't want the majority back if we don't believe anything. it came in when we had 55 senators, large majority in the house, republican in the white house. frankly, we didn't do what we said we would do. >> chris: is he driving his fellow republican senators nuts with the sentiment? >> yes. he wants a conservative purity test. he made it very clear.

the problem is most republicans want to be in the majority and be in control and legislating. want to go toe to toe with president obama. i disagree with fred in delaware, republicans are going to write this off. i think other states are in play and this will probably stay in democrat hands but certainly senator demint thinks he can play a significant role. he got out and endorsed a lot of candidates. some will win in november and some won't. i don't think christine o'donnell will. >> chris: what does it say in state after state they backed one candidate and grassroots activist helped nominate someone else? a bunch of states. >> it's not unusual for establishment to support candidates that aren't in tune of grassroots of the party, particularly in

off-year elections where you get energized activists. i think senator demint is wrong when he says i'd rather have a party that believes in something and not a party that doesn't. well, the party he is in, in the senate right now, the 40 senators believe in something. it's stopping the obama agenda. what is remarkable over the last year-and-a-half is how much mitch mcconnell, minority leader has held that caucus together all the way from olympia snowe to jim demint in opposing obama care, opposing the stimulus. he's wrong in saying that this is ideologically, heredical or unreliable republican senatorial caucus. if they really are serious about stopping obama, the way to do it is get the majority. otherwise, we're going to have another two years of what we had in the last year-and-a-half. democrats inty tuting major -- democrats instituting major structural and some of it change they cannot in the end be

reversed. >> chris: do you agree with that, fred? >> i agree that electing conservatives is the thumb two priority. the number one priority is defeating democrats. you want to feel to nominate a candidate with the best chance of doing that. if that is a moderate, okay. conservative, okay? william buckley had a line about electing as a conservative, he wanted to elect the most conservative candidate he could, who could still win. that might eliminate some conservatives. defeating democrats is number one. that's what you have to do first. that's how you get a majority and go from there. >> chris: interesting development. i want to move to the subject, charles. interesting development today. erin, karl rove, of course, republican bona fides are solid as main strategist for george w. bush for more than eight years has been tough on christine o'donnell today. let's watch. >> when you have a headline in the state leading

newspaper o'donnell faces campaign debt, back tax issues, that is something you have to deal with. you can't get away simply saying go to my website, i have the answers there. >> chris: what about his argument that it's not her ideology that is going to sink her, it's some of her personal baggage? >> personal issues. >> chris: i mean there are questions about her paying her college tuition and back taxes and number of issues like that. >> employment history. questions about her character. they're not being raised just by democrats. republicans as well. we heard karl rove say it. mike castle her primary challenger, she challenged mike castle, says she was a con artist. these are questions that are going to come up. i think the media is certainly going to scrutinize her record, i think this all bodes well for the democrat chris coons. he is probably the luckiest man in politics today. >> chris: charles, to wrap up this segment we'll continue to talk politics in the next segment. i mean you have the real possibility here with sharron

angle and marco rubio and ken buck and joe miller up in alaska and christine o'donnell, you can have a different republican caucus next year. >> well, you could. but i'm not sure that any of these are as radical as people, that all of these are as radical some say. i think sharron angle is a particularly bad candidate in nevada. it may lose us republicans, a seat that was attainable. harry reid is extremely unpopular in the state. he should be trailing by double digits. to donnell is a weak candidate. not sure how much influence they'd have elected in the caucus. i mean overall, people have to decide do you want to follow the buckley rule and get elected? in delaware, that candidate was castle. he won 12 times statewide. she lost twice, o'donnell has lost twice. it's probably a lost seat and

it could cost them the majority which would be divisive. >> chris: all right. tell us what topic you would like us to discuss in friday's lightning round. log on to your home page at foxnews.com/special report. vote in the online poll. we have more politics including other races fro

>> chris: and we're back with the panel. the latest round of progress and talk more politics, there were other races last night. republican senate primary in new hampshire. kelly ayotte won narrowly over ovide lamontagne. love the name. she has the backing of sarah palin and he was according to the tea party. fr

fred, what is significance of that race? >> any of the candidates running on the republican side will probably win. kelly ayotte, the state attorney general is probably the best candidate. there was a third guy in the race, bill benny who spent $5 million and got 12%. this is going to be republican seat. they'll be holding one of their own. it's going to win. ovide, great name, i agree, he probably would have won, too. >> chris: this is a victory relatively speaking for the establishment republicans over the outsider republicans in new hampshire, correct? >> yes, in this case, she was certainly supported by sarah palin, but also by the establishment. unless something crazy happens they expect it to stay in republican hands. certainly, the tea party is certainly a force to be reckoned with. they are playing in the races. i think anyone who underestimated them should rethink it. >> talk about somebody who

people won't underestimate. sarah palin who backed o'donnell in delaware, ayotte in new hampshire, joe miller, surprise winner alaska and others across the country. two dozen people she supported won. she talked about it today and message for the republican party. take a look. >> this is good timing because we still have six or seven weeks away before the mid-term. it is enough time. it allows time for the party hierarchy to get it and realize they better buck up and staying in the truck. >> chris: got that, charles? buck up and staying in the truck. >> or go out and shoot a moose. that is the alternative. >> chris: sarah palin has shown a lot of clout in this election cycle. >> she has. the test will be on election day in november. a lot of her candidates will do well.

haley among others but a lot of people will look at delaware and how she jumped in at the 11th hour and supported o'donnell against a sure winner mike castle, so much a sure winner that beau biden son of senator groomed since infancy to inherit the father's seat pulled out when he saw that castle was the republican opponent. i think a lot is going to hinge on that. otherwise, people will say she was irresponsible in areas, races like that and she will be judged on how many seats are won in the end from the democrats, not so much of her strength inside republican party. >> chris: do you think her candidates and how they do on november 2 could have significant impact on her viability as candidate for 2012? >> absolutely. you can almost argue some of the internal races we have seen in delaware and elsewhere, are an index of her strength as presidential

candidate. proxies. she has shown she is strong internally and has a real constituency and a reasonable chance to win the nomination. people will ask is she electable. there will also be a proxy on the question in november how did her candidates do against democrats? >> they'll ask that but i think the value of her endorsement or anybody else's you exaggerate. if you're underdog candidate and palin endorses you, it will help jim demint does more. demint will come out and endorse and raise money for them. this was a time when buck had no money. >> she got o'donnell over the hump in delaware and milner

alaska? >> i don't. >> chris: wait, wait, wait. i want to talk about one more race in washington. incumbent mayor fenty lost by a fairly decisive margin to the city council president vincent gray. erin, what happened? >> i don't think -- obviously, washington tonians were not happy with fenty leadership. there is questions about how he rehandles the education system. anti-incumbent year. they want fresh face. mr. gray is not a fresh face on the city council. >> chris: charles, you want to talk about the school reform as signature race. >> his signature point was school reform. he had superintendent out there firing teachers and being tough on competence in the worst school district in the country. being aggressive on this. strongly opposed by teachers unions who opposed fenty.

also, the government workers union opposed him. a huge defeat across the country. a mayor with a serious amount of backing the superintendent and he got crushed. >> why did he get crushed in particular? in the african-american vote. he won the white vote but he was rejected particularly in the poor and black neighborhoods. >> chris: that had nothing to do with unions but he lost touch with the neighborhood. >> a lot of them complained about the firing of teachers and principals. >> chris: all right. that is it for the panel. stay tuned to find out why a network news show is much more sensitive than a pro-football team.

time to reveal the results of tonight's text to vote poll. we asked you which tea party

backed candidate has the best chance to win in november. here are the results: christian chris we thank you for your votes. we had over 6,000 of them. finally tonight, you may have heard by now about that woman sports reporter who was apparently subjected to some crude remarks and actions by members of the new york jets football team. well, when she went on the today show to talk about it, her reception was very different. >> good morning to you. >> hi, good morning. >> let's talk about these incidents over the weekend. you are at the jets training facility. first there are these footballs being throne -- thrown outside and cat calls in the locker room. did you feel you were being harassed. >> yes there is a difference. i think the language is very -- [ laughter ]